Recession is over, but job creation still lags

Nearly two years after the economic recovery officially began, job creation continues to stagger at the slowest post-recession rate since the Great Depression.

The nation has 5 percent fewer jobs today - a loss of 7 million - than it did when the recession began in December 2007. That is by far the worst performance of job generation following any of the dozen recessions since the 1930s.

In the past, the economy recovered lost jobs 13 months on average after a recession. If this were a typical recovery, nearly 10 million more people would be working today than when the recession officially ended in June 2009.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty about the economic recovery, and many companies that would like to hire are reluctant to do so because they're not confident sales will pick up and remain strong," said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center.

This recession has been particularly unfriendly to job seekers, experts say.

"There was too much employment in housing, and that isn't coming back - and frankly shouldn't come back," said Amar Bhide, a Tufts University professor.

The housing collapse and productivity gains on the factory floor have made it hard for the economy to absorb workers without a college degree and young people generally, says Carl Camden, president of Kelly Services, a global staffing firm. Manufacturers are producing more value than ever in the U.S. with a fraction of the workers needed before, he says.